Jamaica was hit by an islandwide power outage on Friday after the Jamaica Public Service said a system failure was behind the darkness across the country. The utility said it was taking steps to restore electricity to customers and that the work would be carried out in a phased and pre-determined manner.
Energy Minister Daryl Vaz said the blackout was unacceptable and said all power stations were being restarted. He said electricity was expected to return to the entire island on a phased basis overnight into Saturday morning, while JPS said on Friday that it was still investigating the cause of the incident.
The outage cut across Jamaica at once, leaving the utility to manage a restoration plan that was not immediate and not all at once. That matters because the first official explanation points to a system failure, but the specific fault remains unknown even as the restart begins.
Vaz demanded a full report from JPS within 24 hours and said it should include an outline of what caused the power outage. He said he would update the nation accordingly. JPS said it would keep customers informed as more information became available and thanked them for their patience and understanding.
The next test is not simply whether the lights come back on, but whether JPS can explain why the island went dark in the first place.
